


Death Kitty 9000

by Genesister (papirini)



Series: Bangs and Thangs [14]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Implied Sexual Content, Intersex Keith (Voltron), Intersex Shiro (Voltron), M/M, Medical Examination, Misunderstandings, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Psychic Bond, Unconsciousness, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:34:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21826825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/papirini/pseuds/Genesister
Summary: Shiro had been feeling a bit off lately, so he very reluctantly went to the Atlas’ medical bay to figure out the problem.  He does quickly figure out what it is that’s been ailing him, and while he is shocked and surprised, it’s a much better outcome than he anticipated.It’s just too bad that Coran was the one in charge that day, because he and the other Alteans just told Keith he’s expecting—to die, that is.A work for the 2019 Sheith Big Bang.This work isCOMPLETE. Enjoy!
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Bangs and Thangs [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1106265
Comments: 7
Kudos: 78
Collections: Sheith Big Bang 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We really went overboard with the cats. Neither me nor my artist are sorry. Seriously no regrets.
> 
> Super special thanks to Cinnabar for her wonderful, beautiful and _meow_ elous art!

It was during lunch time on Thursday, in the middle of an otherwise unremarkable tour of the Sunflower-Mejdore Galaxy, when Shiro finally realized something was wrong.

He stared down at his food, fork halfway to his mouth, mouth slightly ajar. His eyes narrowed at the peas that were on his spoon, mixed in with the thick, purple Olkarian mash of _merdik_ that had come with it in the container’s side compartment. In the main meat compartment was a turkey sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, and black olives with sriracha sauce in between rye bread. His drink was a chocolate protein shake.

The person across from him had just commented on his admittedly delicious-looking meal before leaving the table.

“Hey, Admiral,” the Mardinian cadet had casually, even jokingly, spoken as he did a quick salute. “No macaroni and cheese again? That’s the third time this week, sir. You must be sick!”

“Heh.” He’d already taken a bite of the mash as the cadet left. “Noted, cadet. Enjoy your…shift…”

Then Shiro had stopped as he took another scoop, replaying the conversation in his head as he stared down at his meal. Macaroni and cheese _was_ his favorite food, after all. It was one of the few things he had guaranteed would be on the ready for being made during any voyage they took on the Atlas. Everyone knew he would have at least one meal of it a day; considering how much he tended to stockpile on the ship, it was no wonder he had not gotten sick from eating so much of it by this point.

Except he _had_ gotten sick from eating it, and not just metaphorically, he realized as he slowly put his fork down, when he went to get his lunch during the past week. The smell of macaroni and cheese, normally something that was a welcome relief, had instead become too overwhelming, too _strong_ , in the past several weeks. It had caused him to want to vomit, and inadvertently veer instead towards an alternative. An alternative slathered with sriracha sauce. 

Except he _hated_ sriracha sauce with a passion. He hated rye, too, as much as he loved macaroni and cheese. Nor was he a big fan of _merdik_ , despite everyone telling him it was like having purple mashed potatoes with more protein than usual, and not mashed straw like Shiro usually tasted. And, well, peas were peas; butter could only do so much for the taste.

Yet here he was, about to devour a sandwich with two pieces of bread he despised, slathered in a condiment he never liked. In fact, he’d been the one to specifically request the sriracha added to his delectable, damned deli diet, and had even ordered extra in a little cup that he smeared between the tomato and lettuce. He was still wanting to eat it all even now. His hands, seemingly against his will, closed around the sandwich, and before Shiro knew it, he had polished off not just that, but the rest of his meal. 

His unnaturally delicious-and highly nutritious-meal of food that, on a normal day, he didn’t like and wouldn’t touch. Not when there was macaroni and cheese on board. It made no sense.

He frowned for a few more minutes at his now-empty tray, brows crinkled with concern, before he began to feel his stomach churn, with the accompanying acid starting to fill his chest. He sighed, realizing he needed to leave to get to the toilet, and soon. Then he’d have to consider the unthinkable and unwanted scenario of going to—

“Sir?” And that was when he was stopped by one of his lieutenants, a concerned expression on their face. “Are you ok? You’re looking a bit pale.”

_Oh no._

“Oh, I’m…fine, lieutenant.” Shiro managed to swallow back the bile that was starting to pool up into his throat. “I just need to get back to my room for a moment. Then I’ll be back on the bridge.”

_Please let me go—_

“Are you sure?” The lieutenant put a hand on Shiro’s shoulder, and he could feel his stomach lurch more violently as the seconds ticked by. “If I may speak frankly, you _really_ don’t look good, sir.”

“I’m _fine_.” It came out much terser than he’d intended, but Shiro _was_ in a bit of a time crunch at this point. “I just need to go to the bathroom. Please, don’t worry about it.”

“With respect, _sir_ ,” the lieutenant, much to Shiro’s fear (and considerable annoyance), simply stood their ground. “I think you should go to the—”

An undignified burp left Shiro’s mouth as he covered his mouth with a fist. That was the sign of what was to come, and almost immediately after it began to come up to his mouth with a decidedly disgusting aftertaste of spicy mash, straw, and peas.

_No no NO—!_

And by then it was too late. Shiro had thrown up his lunch all over the lieutenant.

* * *

Thinking back on the events that had only happened a mere varga before, Shiro huffed as he sat in the waiting room of the Atlas’ medical wing. He knew it was only a matter of time before he ended up here, no matter how much he wanted to avoid being anywhere near the medical bay. The signs had all been there, he supposed. The vomiting had been going on for some time, after all.

Actually, it had been about a month after Keith had gone on the scouting expedition into the inner systems of the Sunflower-Mejdore that strange things began happening to him, long before his food-based revelation. For one thing, the vomiting. It generally only happened after breakfast, sometimes after lunch, and while he tended to get sluggish and tired after vomiting, by the end of the day he felt better and could keep food down well enough. Nor was it every day. It was intermittent, on and off, and it had started to ease off in the past few weeks-the incident with the lieutenant notwithstanding, of course. He had originally figured he was simply getting over whatever space bug he’d been inflicted by.

There were also the very strange dreams he’d ended up having throughout the previous months. Most of the time, he’d been swimming. Not that he didn’t like swimming while he was awake, but all he did during his dreams was float on a pool. Or a lake. Or an ocean. Or over Keith’s bed. Once he even floated over Zarkon during their battle with him all those years ago, while the Black Lion detached from the rest of Voltron and spun in circles nearby. It was all very strange. Still, dreams were dreams, and nothing particularly terrible came from them, and so he’d not considered them a symptom of anything more.

Then there was the sleepiness, where he found himself hitting the snooze button more often than not in the morning. The dizziness he’d had when he moved too fast caused him to fall flat on the floor during his workouts. His temper getting the better of him on more than one occasion over incredibly small matters, such as that one time he yelled at Iverson to stop coughing. The fact that Iverson laughed at him for being so angry had only made him sulk even more that particular evening, to the point where, in an act of utter pettiness, he refused to go to weekly movie night down in maintenance because he knew Iverson would be there. Iverson still wasn’t letting him live his odd little tantrum down.

There were more changes that Shiro realized as he waited for his appointment, of course; there were always more signs, when one thought about it more, when one was sick. There was a bloating in his stomach that had started to become much more pronounced over the past few weeks, making his clothing and especially his pants uncomfortably tight and hard to put on. His nipples had started getting sensitive, with his pecs feeling likewise soon after. And there was the acne—something he’d never had to worry about before, even as a teen, but now his nose and forehead was spotted with oil and holes that produced impressive, snake-like blackheads.

All those symptoms, all of the vomiting and bloating and sudden onset of annoying zits, were random, new things he could live with long-term, even if they made little sense except that maybe he was getting older, and bodies, even genetically-enhanced clone ones, were liable to change with time. He had reasoned that he’d lived with far worse before, after all. His feelings on the matter were such that he barely even mentioned the symptoms to Keith during the precious few times they could talk to one another.

But realizing he’d been inadvertently rejecting his macaroni and cheese for other foods that he previously disliked for days on end? Now _that_ was an emergency. It meant something bad was going on, and with all of the other symptoms and signs also staring back at him, it meant he had no choice but to get checked out. He would _have_ to let Keith know about this as well, when he was discharged.

He sighed and stretched just as the Altean nurse on duty came in.

“Hello, Admiral!” The lady flashed a winning smile beneath her beret. It was clear she was new on the team, just by the fact that there were still creases in her uniform. “My name is Saranhi. Please, come this way, sir.”

With a hum of acknowledgement on his lips, Shiro proceeded to walk down the corridor with her until they were in the triage area. Several officers in the waiting room stared at him as he passed; he didn’t exactly come here often, so it made sense his presence was unexpected by everyone. Still, in response, Shiro rolled his shoulders and looked down at the floor, feeling his face go flush at the sudden attention being spent on him.

_Just like back before, when I was sick. Ugh…_

“Here we are.” Once they got into a room, Saranhi brought out a scanner wand and a pearl-white bracelet, which clapped onto Shiro’s flesh wrist with a beep. “Now, let’s see what we have here…could you please tell me how you’re feeling today?”

“Not the…best,” Shiro replied with a frown. “I threw up on one of my people, so I came here.”

“Vomiting?” The nurse pulled up a holograph from her wristband, scrolling through what had to be Shiro’s chart. “Hmm. Have you been feeling dizziness as well?”

“Yes…”

“Do you take any medications that could have a side effect of—”

“No. I don’t take any medications on a regular basis.” Not anymore, he didn’t at least. “I’m not having any substantial pain anywhere, either.”

“All right.” Saranhi frowned as she came upon a particularly large block of text. “I see you have a family history and diagnosis of…spinobulbar muscular atrophy? As well as having been diagnosed with juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and...ah, ovotesticular disorder of sexual development. Have you been experiencing any symptoms of any of these illnesses?”

“No, at least not of the ALS.” Shiro bit his lip at the mention of the disease. “Not since before I died.”

“You—oh, yes, I see here. Goodness,” The nurse rubbed her chin as she finished scrolling through the file. “That…must have been an experience, especially to end up in a new body.”

“It was,” Shiro couldn’t help but smile a little at the memory. The waking up in a new body part, not the dead part, of course. “But I had someone who helped to find me and bring me back to life.”

“I see. Well, according to your previous bio-scan you were free of those more severe genetic abnormalities you had previously experienced, in particular the ALS and muscular atrophy, so that is good. Now lie down for me on the table here, please.”

Shiro did so, and as he did, he realized that in the light his stomach was, in fact, noticeably more bloated and round than he had previously assumed it to be. Anyone else who had seen him in the past few weeks would have surely noticed he’d gained weight—or if they hadn’t, it was only a matter of time before they noticed his midsection was bigger. That was apparently what he got for not eating his macaroni and cheese every day, he decided.

Unless it was…well, he was just going to go with the assumption he’d been getting fat over his inexplicable change of diet. It wasn’t the T-word. He wasn’t even going to begin to entertain the T-word as a possibility in his mind, because it wasn’t going to be that. Nope, he was probably just getting fat because he decided to eat like a normal person for the first time in years.

Speaking of getting fat.

“I, uh, noticed that my eating habits have been changing recently,” he resumed with a sigh, as the wand’s blue glow washed over him. “I had sriracha today.”

“Is that bad?”

“…I hate sriracha,” Shiro grimaced. “Yet today at lunch, it was like I couldn’t get enough of it, even though the galley had macaroni and cheese, which is my favorite food. Instead I took a sandwich covered in sriracha instead, with extra on the side.”

“Well…” Another holograph popped up. “Sriracha _can_ cause vomiting and nausea. That would be a sensible reason for your feeling a bit off, especially if you don’t generally eat this ingredient often.”

“…It _would_ make sense, if this was the only time it happened the past few months,” Shiro breathed through his nose. “The vomiting, I mean. But,” he quickly added. “I’m _fine_. It’s nothing I couldn’t have handled before.”

“Is that so?”

“ _Yes._ ” Shiro felt his annoyance flare once more at the concern, at the questioning. His shoulders began to tense as the memories of doctors past and their needless (in his opinion, at least) probing and questioning of his general health began to echo through his mind. “Like I said, it’s nothing I can’t handle. I just want to know why I suddenly have these…things happening with my body. Like with my sense of smell, and-”

“And such as your weight gain in the past several months?” There were several beeps from the bracelet as the hologram flashed. “You’ve gained nearly over 6 human-kilograms since your last checkup, which according to your medical history is abnormal for you. Especially if you have been having these constant episodes of vomiting, am I correct?”

“…Yes, but…it’s normal for the body to change, over time, right?” Over 6 kilograms-that was nearly 20 pounds. That was heavier than he’d ever been, and in fact heavier than he realized. With the way his middle protruded out at him, though, Shiro felt like he could have been—maybe even should have been—even heavier for some reason. “I am nearly 30, after all. Things, uh, shift. Things change.”

It was a terrible excuse for what was likely going on and he knew it. But, really, it could have been that he was just getting fat. In the end, it _wasn’t_ the T-word that was causing anything. This wasn’t like when he was a kid and he had that awful stomach ache that made him throw up all the time and lose weight. Then after he started peeing blood after not going for nearly a week, he ended up in the hospital for a month afterwards with five inches of his intestines taken out and a gnarly scar-his first, it would turn out, of far too many on his body. That had been awful. This, whatever this was, wasn’t nearly _that_ bad thus far. At least, as far as he knew, tumors didn’t automatically make someone not like the smell of macaroni and cheese or give someone vivid dreams, so it couldn’t possibly be the same thing. At least he hoped it wasn’t.

“Well…” The blue light disappeared, and the bracelet let out a final beep. Shiro didn’t need to see Saranhi’s face to know she was frowning. “I’m afraid this isn’t _exactly_ nothing. On top of the unexpected weight gain, your heartbeat is highly irregular and elevated. You also have hormonal readings that I can’t make sense of. However, the most important thing is that there seems to be an unknown anomalous object within your stomach cavity which the wand picked up.”

_Oh no._

“I need you to lift your shirt, sir, so my wand can do a deeper scan to identify it.”

 _No, I said you’re_ not _allowed to be a tumor!_ Shiro shut his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh as he undid his uniform top and lifted the shirt beneath. _Come on, body, don’t do this to me again!_

With Shiro’s stomach thus fully exposed, Saranhi connected the scan wand to a larger apparatus on the wall, which turned on with a buzz. The light from the wand blinked from blue to red, and finally yellow, as it was dipped forward and hovered over him. Slowly, an image materialized on the holograph that popped up onto the wall monitor. As the scan finished and the image fully solidified, the nurse looked it over, before going pale.

“Th-this is…” she stammered, her eyes wide. “Oh, _Admiral_. Please excuse me a moment, I-I need to go get someone for backup on this.”

Shiro watched as the image lightened up and moved in real time. There was a blackness in his stomach cavity, and within the center of it, a twitching, pulsating _thing_. It was like looking at a deformed pink horror film monster, its small tail twitching in between its legs, its legs folded in as its spine began to disappear into the folding fat beneath the skin. On the side of its head was a small, even pinker triangular fold, and—

And then the creature, the thing, began sucking its thumb as its tail twitched. Its quick heartbeat thumped furiously through the speakers of the holograph system, and Shiro’s own heart skipped several beats as he slowly sat on the table in a more upright position. He could only keep staring at the hologram as he brought a shaky hand down to his stomach.

He had been right on one thing-that wasn’t a tumor. What is was was something else entirely.

_Oh my god. That tail._

This wasn’t possible. This wasn’t even remotely possible. Maybe he was having a stroke, because he _certainly_ wasn’t seeing what he thought he was seeing.

He couldn’t be— _he couldn’t be_ —

He began to hyperventilate as he kept himself fixed on the picture. He blinked, closed his eyes, felt his breath pick up ever faster. Still the picture remained. His whole body began to shake, and the picture shook on the wall in response to his trembling. Yet still, the thing remained, tail twitching, thumb coming out of the mouth and twitching with the rest of its body as it moved around its legs, and all the pieces began to fit together in Shiro’s mind. 

It wasn’t his imagination. It was _real_. 

It was why he ate that god-awful sandwich and not his favorite food. It was why he’d been having all of those symptoms. The dreams. The bloating. The vomiting. The mood swings. It was all because he was _—_

Finally, Shiro could no longer hold it in as what he was looking at sunk in. He buried his head in his Altean hand and began to weep in earnest. Maybe it was the fact that the realization of what was in him had unleashed those long-buried feelings he’d always had on the subject, on the whole idea of him having anything like what he was looking at whatsoever. Maybe it was hormones; it would also explain the acne, the temper, and now the crying. Maybe it was both.

Maybe it didn’t matter what was making him cry outside of what he was looking at now. Because now he was somehow, inexplicably, _impossibly_ _pregnant_. Impossible _and_ inexplicable, because wasn’t supposed to _be_ the one who could have a kid. At all.

_Ever._

“Number One.”

He hadn’t even noticed Coran coming into the room, not until the Altean had spoken. He looked up to see the solemn expression on the elder Altean’s face through his own tears of joy.

“Coran,” he managed to gasp through his hand. “Can you believe it? Are you seeing what I’m seeing?! I—” he started laughing. “Oh my god. Oh my _god_ , it’s got a _tail_ , Keith is going to be so _shocked_!”

“I know.”

Why did Coran look so severe as he nodded? Was there something wrong? Maybe Coran thought the tail was a defect? Not that it mattered to Shiro—well, no, it did, if there was a problem, it was best to have it fixed—but the fact that there was anything at all in him was nothing short of a miracle. Even if he doubted the tail was the problem, all things considered. Maybe he missed something when he looked at the screen?

Or-maybe Coran didn’t understand why Shiro was reacting as he was. Shiro wasn’t exactly forthcoming with most people about any part of his medical history, after all.

“I cannot believe it myself, Number One.” Coran let out an almost melancholy sigh. “It is certainly...unexpected, but never worry. We’ll ensure everything is alright in the end.”

“Ah...ahaha…!” Shiro wiped his eyes with the back of his flesh hand at this. “Oh god, what _am_ I going to tell Keith? _How_ am I going to tell him? I don’t even know how far along I am, or if it’s healthy, or—”

“Never you mind those things. We shall make sure Number Four knows about what is going on and what is going to happen.” Something about the way Coran looked at him—the way his brows seemed to furrow, the way his frown deepened the lines around his mouth—seemed almost mournful. “Oh, by the way, what’s that smell?”

“Coran?” Now _that_ was a truly odd question coming from the other’s mouth, and it was Shiro’s turn for his eyebrows to furrow, though with confusion, as he wiped his eyes. “What sme—!?”

The smell of rotten eggs and lutefisk suddenly filled Shiro’s nostrils, and the next thing Shiro knew, he was falling backwards onto the table, the back of his head smacking against the flimsy pillow before everything went black.

* * *

_For years, Shiro had suspected he’d never have any children._

_“Your body is…well. I’m not sure how to put this, young man.”_

_Ever since he was a kid, he knew he was different from the other kids. He was clumsy, spindly, and sickly. His parents, when they were alive, treated him like he was porcelain, and his teachers coddled him out of fear of lawsuits. His classmates despised him, made fun of him, ostracized him for his weakness, his sickness, his constant trips to the hospital and repeated absences to the point of nearly flunking multiple grades._

_From a young age Shiro always knew his family line would end with him._

_“Your family has had several genetic mutations in their bloodline, Takashi. It causes…problems, primarily with the males in your family. You likely already know this.”_

_Of course he did. He was a man, after all. That had always been what he was, and nothing about the things Shiro learned about himself as he grew up changed that in his mind. He was a sick man, to be sure, but still a man. A man who wouldn’t live long past thirty, if he even made it that long._

_He’d come to accept his death as one accepted a cup of hot cocoa on a cold night. It wasn’t something to mourn, or feel sorry about-it was simply a fact of life._

_“However, I’m aware that you’re probably asking questions about your body that few people are willing to give you full answers to. Answers you want because you’ve noticed that even compared to your parents, or your grandparents, you’re, well, different.”_

_Distant and faint memories surfaced of his Nene, who had always been a source of strength for him alongside his Jo-jo before they both passed. She gently took him aside one day after he’d been bullied again about how he was weird looking without a shirt in the middle school locker room. Carding her gnarled hand through his hair, she explained how, when he was still in his mother’s belly, he had actually started out as_ two _babies, a girl and a boy. He should have been twins but instead, they became one baby that was a little like a boy and a girl at the same time. But that didn’t make him weird or wrong like the other boys thought. They were just young and didn’t understand yet, was all. Shiro, too, would one day understand how special he was._

_(Looking back, Shiro found it ironic that a complete fusion on such an infinitesimal level during birth was just a thing in his life. Most of the Paladins had been more shocked that he hadn’t been surprised when told that he and the clone had merged during his resurrection in the new body, and that in the end it had felt so natural for him to simply absorb the other into him. To become a little bit the clone, along with a little bit of himself._

_It wasn’t shocking to Keith, though. Keith had already known about his history before then.)_

_Memories of those long-past doctor’s appointments swirled through his mind, of where he was told how he had a set of male genitals that were smaller than they should be. Of how, meanwhile, he also had a womb and a set of ovaries—something that males generally didn’t possess—and small, albeit discernible, breasts. Of how, as a true intersexual individual, he was considered sterile, of how his body was unable to process testosterone or produce sperm like the other boys. Of how the likelihood of having kids in the future with anyone he might end up with was next to zero._

_At the time, the prospect of having babies, or having someone tell him he had ovaries and a uterus alongside his testicles and penis, or having someone tell him he was looking at a life of infertility? Those were the least of his many problems, especially as his dream of going into space loomed before him. The knowledge of having two sets of genitals-and what he was going to do with them-wasn’t as important to him as following in the footsteps of the astronauts who flew the_ Calypso _and proving himself as a strong, capable astronaut—especially if he wanted to do it before he was confined to a wheelchair. So, he went for his dreams, with his grandparents’ blessing. They knew they wouldn’t live to see a new generation of Shiroganes, just as he was certain he wouldn’t, either._

_Then, one day, Keith came into his life. Keith changed everything. Keith, through thick and thin, life and death, became someone who Shiro ultimately wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Soon enough, Keith became that person, and more: he became the person Shiro wanted to have children with as well._

_That was when the problem of Shiro’s infertility finally and truly came into play. Shiro and Keith had sex, once they settled down on the Atlas and got to business, of course. Indeed, they had lots and lots and_ lots _of sex. But Shiro was unable to provide what he hoped to give, despite being in a new, genetically-altered body that lacked the degenerative muscular disorders that had threatened and plagued him before. Likewise, the happy revelation that Keith—being partly Galra and of a particular subspecies to boot—was also intersex, and very,_ very _fertile and capable of bearing children after his second puberty, changed nothing. The only result was a great deal of marathoning between the two of them, such that would have made rabbits blush, with nothing to show for their efforts but exhaustion afterwards._

 _Apparently, Haggar did not want any of the clones from Operation Kuron that might have infiltrated Voltron to have penises, or at least have ones that weren’t little more than glorified phalluses, for whatever reason. It turned out that Shiro, far from being more capable of producing sperm in the clone body, produced even less. Not even the replacement karyotypes given him from genetically fertile Galra gene donors such as Sendak (because of course Haggar experimented on clones of Shiro and Sendak, so why_ wouldn’t _there be overlap?) allowed for the development of sperm inside of him._

_There was no way that Shiro could get Keith pregnant. Ever. It was a cruel blow that Shiro never even realized would hurt until he got the news. But when the cut came, it was a deep one. For three days he didn’t leave his officer’s quarters, and for two days he didn’t eat until, finally, Keith made him have some crackers. Then, afterwards, they cuddled in bed, staring out the window of their rooms._

_Shiro could still remember that night. The light of Messier 81 shined through the windows from millions of light years away; it was the only thing which illuminated the room, and them, as they lay together, their naked bodies warm and intertwined, holding hands. For the longest time, even as they watched the azimuth of an entire galaxy slowly change in the window, they were quiet, as if not daring to speak._

_It was Shiro who finally broke the silence, his voice quiet and raw. He had made his peace with death long ago. He could make peace with this, as well. Eventually._

_“I know we can adopt.” Keith’s hands squeezed his just a little tighter at that. “Or…you can find a sperm donor. That’s always possible.”_

_“Shiro…”_

_“Keith.” He wanted to cry again. He couldn’t, after that point. He had no more tears at that point; there was nothing but numbness and weariness in his chest. “I know you want to go to Altea to get me checked out, but I don’t think this is something even Allura can fix. Not this time.”_

_He closed his eyes. Saying it was like giving up, and he hated giving up. Yet he knew he had to when it came to this._

_“I wanted to hope…ah.” Shiro let his body sag with a sigh that started from deep in his bones. “I’m sorry, Keith. I’m so sorry about all of this—about me.”_

_“No._ Never _be sorry, Shiro.” There was a sharpness in Keith’s voice at this, as Shiro felt the other bury his head into the back of his shoulder. “This isn’t your fault, and this changes nothing for us, nor for me. It doesn’t change how I feel about you and it never will. You know that, don’t you?”_

 _“…I_ do _know that.” Shiro closed his eyes. “I just wish I could really_ feel _it, too.”_

_He felt Keith’s mouth begin to litter his neck with kisses at this._

_“I think I know how to make you feel better,” Keith began to whisper into his ear. “Even if it’s just for a little bit, if you’ll let me.”_

_“…Do you now,” Shiro murmured as he slowly rolled over to face Keith. “What were you thinking?”_

_The light of the distant galaxy was faint on Keith’s face as his hand moved to Shiro’s face, gently thumbing at the tracks his tears had made. His touch was almost feather-light despite the calluses; in response, Shiro took Keith’s other hand and began to kiss his fingers._

_“I was thinking…we’re already naked.” Keith’s thumb went down to his neck, then down to his pec, where his finger traced to his nipples to give it a once over. The fondling sent a shudder through Shiro’s body. “And it’s my turn to be on top. Are you up for a round? Maybe two, before I have to go with Ezor?”_

_There was a squeeze of his nipples, and Shiro let out a moan that sounded like it could have been Keith’s name, or it could have been him letting out a very undignified squeal. Or both. Both sounded likely. In any case, there was no way Shiro would refuse Keith. Even if it made him feel a little better for only a short while, it was good enough for him._

_One thing led to another, and then…well, Shiro didn’t get Keith pregnant that night, either. And when they parted—when Keith woke him up to give him one final kiss before he departed—Keith promised they would talk about it when he got home._

_They sure would have a lot to talk about soon enough, all right, Shiro realized. Especially since Keith wasn’t the one who was carrying the kid they’d been aiming to have. Apparently, he could get pregnant this entire time, and never even realized it._

**_-That is correct, Admiral.-_ **

Huh?

_Shiro opened his eyes, and—_

He stared at an all-too-familiar void, a large pair of cyan lights in the distance. His first reaction was a gasp; perhaps he had died again and had ended up back in the Black Lion’s essence. Or, perhaps, it was a more terrifying possibility that loomed over him: that he’d never left Black, and everything that transpired in the last several years since he thought he’d been brought back had all been a dream after all—

**_-That is an incorrect assumption, Admiral. You are still alive.-_ **

The voice was nothing like the mechanical purr of the Black Lion, which meant—oh, of _course_. Shiro’s body relaxed the more he thought on it. If not the Black Lion, then somehow he was connected to—

“Atlas?” Shiro’s voice echoed in the void as he looked over to the eyes in the distance. “This is you, isn’t it?”

 **_-Yes.-_ ** The voice responded immediately, with a hint of bemusement. **_-I am Atlas. I was originally contacting you due to a query in mechanical. However, my ship scan has revealed to me that you are currently unconscious in the medical wing.-_ **

“Unconscious? Ok, then…” Shiro took a breath. While it was better than being outright dead, that still didn’t bode well for him or his…baby. Wow, he was _having_ a _baby_. Saying that was going to get some getting used to. “Can you tell me why I’m unconscious? Last I remember, I was…Coran asked me to smell something in the med bay. I think.”

 **_-Scanning through medical wing equipment…-_** Some of the cyan stars sparkled above before the voice returned. **_-Confirmation: you have been administered a large dose of ghanturixton.-_ **

“Gantu- _what_?…I’ve never…” Shiro blinked. “What the heck is that?”

**_-Ghanturixton is a highly potent Altean surgical sedative that is known for its unusual smell. It can be easily administered by dissolving it within the air supply. A simple misting in the direction of the target suffices to sedate a target individual. Said misting can be delivered easily, via a perfume bottle or an aerosol-style spray can to give examples. Though side-effects are rare and minimal when present, they--_ **

“Wait, _what_? Hold up there, Atlas.” Shiro brought a bewildered hand to his temples. “Are you saying Coran _drugged_ me?”

 **_-A real-time scan of your bloodstream confirms exposure to a larger than expected dosage of ghanturixton.-_ ** A glowing screen of charts popped up in front of Shiro. **_-Estimated time before sedation wears off without another dosage being applied is currently ten hours and thirty-two minutes.-_ **

“I—”

Shiro stared at the screen as it blipped out of existence, dumbfounded by the revelation. Coran drugged him. It was the only explanation. No wonder Coran had seemed so severe. At the same time, it didn’t make sense why Coran would even feel the need to do something so drastic against him without reason. More than that, he couldn’t believe Coran would do such a thing to him-especially knowing of his pasts with the Galra, both as himself and as the clone. It galled him that Coran would play with Shiro’s trust in him so easily, without Shiro even realizing what was happening.

“...Why did he do this to me?” His fists began to tightly clench. The base temptation to fight his current fate of captivity-to lash back, to somehow wake up and get himself free, to _escape_ -spiked in that moment. “Where is Coran right now?”

**_-Scanning…he is in Conference Room 7563-B on the other side of me. He is attempting to communicate to the Marmora exploration contingent in the Sunflower-Mejdore galaxy.-_ **

_Keith…!_

“Let me see! Show me!” Shiro’s demand practically flew out of his mouth. “Please…!”

 **_-I can attempt to show you the feed as I would see it.-_ ** A pause. **_-However, it will take a great deal of energy from you and may cause disruptions in your delta waves. Any long-term connections in your current state are inadvisable and pose potential risks to your well-being.-_ **

“I don’t care.” Shiro shook his head. “Just let me look in, for right now. I need to know what Coran’s doing and _why_.”

 **_-Engaging.-_ ** Shiro could feel buzzing in the back of his head at this. **_-However, if there is a change in your vitals I will need to disconnect you.-_ **

“Fine. That’s fine.”

Then Shiro blinked, and he was staring down at the conference room Coran was in. His vision was hazy, almost out-of-focus, but he could still see Coran pacing, and Saranhi, the Altean nurse who had examined him, sitting across from him. The communication screen was blank, save for the **CONNECTING. . .** cell that kept blinking on and off every other second.

_Huh? Is she involved, too…!?_

“With all due respect, sir, Coran, we should _really_ remove it as soon as possible,” her voice echoed nervously to the ceiling. “I’ve already told you, according to protocol we don’t really need permission from the Admiral’s spouse to perform an emergency procedure. Not when we’re dealing with _this_ kind and level of medical threat!”

“And as I’ve said, it would be improper to inform Number Four of the situation regardless,” Coran turned to face the nurse, his face dark. “We have time to bring him back before we make such a move. The sedative helps to slow down the growth of what’s inside Number One, it’s been long proven.”

_...What? Why-_

“But—!”

“And,” Coran held a finger up. “If we continue to administer it on schedule there will be plenty of time for us to properly extract the parasite and destroy it before it’s too late.”

_...wait, WHAT!?_

Shiro barely had time to process what he just heard before the screen suddenly turned bright white, and the words **INCOMING** flashed. Then, another flash, and—

_Keith! KEITH! Oh my god, listen—_

The other’s head came on, his brow covered in sweat, his Marmora suit covered in green mud along with his hair. Shiro’s heart swelled with joy at the sight as he began to shout, only to drop in horror when he realized that him shouting out to Keith wouldn’t do any good. He wasn’t actually in the room with the Alteans; he was still unconscious in reality, and practically halfway across the ship to boot.

“ **Coran. Huh.** ” Keith’s eyes widened. “ **What is it? I thought this was Shiro calling me.** ”

“Well, you’re not entirely wrong. This call _is_ about Number One, I’m afraid.” Coran straightened himself up. “I regret to inform you that something terrible has happened.”

 _Wh-no, Coran, no!_ The look of abject fear and worry on Keith’s face was enough to make Shiro want to wake up and burst into the conference room right then and there. _Keith,_ no _, I’m all right, I-_

“ **What do you mean, ‘something terrible’?** ” Keith sounded so small, so helpless at this. “ **Please tell me he’s ok, Coran.** ”

“For now, he is.” At this, the nurse spoke, “but he came to the medical bay with unusual symptoms, and we discovered…well, it’s inside his stomach cavity, and-”

“I’m afraid Number One’s been infested with a Tyrnazoran helminth.” Coran folded his hands behind his back. “I had hoped these had been extinct due to the original destruction of Altea, but it appears that isn’t the case with Altea restored to reality.”

“ ** _…What?!_ **”

“Y-yes…the Tyrnazoran helminth is a terrifying Altean parasite,” Saranhi spoke again, standing up. “It enters through cuts and once it enters the digestive system, incubates itself inside an unsuspecting host. It causes dizziness and vomiting, and bloating, and then…well, it eventually emerges by bursting out of the host’s body. It then grows to its adult size soon afterwards…devouring everything in its way. It can’t be killed by conventional means due to its armor plating, and…the host themselves ultimately die as a result of the emergence.”

 _WHAT!?_ Shiro couldn’t believe what he was hearing. _A parasi—no, I’m not dying, I can’t be, don’t—!_

“We must extract the helminth as soon as possible.” The coldness in Coran’s voice horrified Shiro, to the point where he couldn’t believe that this was the very same Coran who had been his friend since they first formed Voltron all those years before. “As this is a Class Z parasite, surgery is not elective in this case. However…we can delay it if you wish to come and see for yourself, to discuss options…sedatio—”

 **_-Your delta waves are starting to fluctuate erratically. Your heartbeat is also elevating to dangerous levels.-_ ** Atlas’ voice suddenly seared into his mind, and the communications room started to fade, even as Keith’s eyes hardened and his brow furrowed, even as he started speaking again to respond after a long silence, but suddenly, Shiro couldn’t hear what was being said. **_–I’m afraid I must disconnect you.-_ **

_Wait! I have to know what Keith is—!_

**_-I am sorry, Admiral.-_ **

Just like that, Shiro was falling, then opening his eyes back without the astral plane of Atlas’ consciousness. 

**_-It is as I said. I cannot risk putting you in that type of danger in your condition.-_ **

“No…Atlas...!”

Shiro’s robot hand curled into a fist and slammed down into what passed for ground in that place. His eyes shut tightly as he breathed in, breathed out. Keith thought he was dying. Coran was going to _kill_ —

“Quiznak.” He choked. “Atlas…please. Please tell me he’s wrong. _Please_ tell me I can _stop_ him.”

**_-I do not understand. Stop who?-_ **

“Keith. Coran. _Anyone_!” He snapped his head upwards towards the unmoving, glowing cyan lights. “My baby is _not_ an alien parasite! Is it!?”

There was silence from Atlas at this.

“ _Well!?_ ”

 **_-Still scanning…-_ ** Finally, Atlas spoke again. **_-There are no signs of parasitism in your fetus outside of normal parameters for its current stage of growth.-_ **

“My…my _fetus_.”

**_-Correct, Admiral. Estimate of approximate gestation time is 19 Earth weeks.-_ **

Which meant he really _had_ conceived the night before Keith left. Shiro wasn’t sure whether to cry or scream at this.

“Then I’m pregnant. I’m really pregnant.” Deep breaths. Just keep breathing. “And Coran and that nurse want to take _my baby_ out of me and kill it. Because they think it’s a monster.”

 **_-Scanning medical records…-_ ** An image of his child—his and Keith’s child, it was _real_ —popped into existence in front of him, as did a decidedly less friendly image of what looked like an armored lizard inside someone’s stomach. **_-Your fetus does have a resemblance to the Tyrnazoran helminth in its second stage after implantation. It also elicits several similar host symptoms, including unusual hunger and taste changes, nausea, vomiting, bloating and heightened hormonal responses.-_ **

“But there _are_ differences, right?”

 **_-Affirmative.-_ ** A bulleted list popped up between the two images. **_-There are multiple differences. The most important: progesterone is not among the hormones the Tyrnazoran helminth is capable of inducing, the average time between implantation and maturation of the helminth is 3-6 quintants, and you would have experienced a loss of feeling in your limbs by this time, if this was indeed a helminth of this size.-_ **

“God…” Shiro brought his hands to his face. “I just…I can’t believe I’m pregnant. All this time, I thought I was infertile…”

 **_-Your most recent required physical at the Garrison confirmed an inability to induce spermatogenesis due to the incomplete formation of male genitalia.-_ ** Another picture appeared, revealing a readout of Shiro’s body. **_-However, there was no indication that neither your ovaries nor your uterus were similarly non-functional.-_ **

“I…are you sure?” Hearing that from Atlas after so many years was surreal to say the least. “Even back in my original body, I mean…I’ve always had irregular bleeding at best. The doctors said not to even think about having kids.”

 **_-If I may look into your surviving pre-invasion medical records in full, Admiral?-_** Shiro gave a slow, dazed nod. After a moment, Atlas spoke once more. **_-There was no indication that you would be unable to get pregnant, even prior to your abduction on Kerberos; your ovaries and uterus were more fully formed and producing eggs. However, the doctors noted that it would be highly inadvisable for you to consider it, due to your family history and ongoing medical issues. Any such attempt to carry to full term would have been considered extremely high-risk with multiple complications. The possibility of mortality to both you and your unborn child would have been too prohibitive to try. Most likely, your doctors would have attempted to dissuade you on the subject, had you thought to bring it up.-_ **

“And now…?”

 **_-…Based on the readings your most recent scan is showing, you may want to consider certain vitamin supplements to ensure you will not have deficiencies in your next trimester. Otherwise, there is no indication that your pregnancy is in any danger from serious complications, or that your fetus cannot be carried to term or be healthy.-_ ** The good news was almost laconic coming from Atlas. **_-Though, I should note that the Galra replacement karyotypes used in your body’s cloning have had an effect on the genetic structure of your remaining eggs. Your child is 50% Galra as a result, with several features that would be considered Galra, or “feline-like”, by humans. –_ **

Then, a picture of a cute cat popped up, making a meowing sound, before it disappeared.

“Atlas, did…” Shiro let out a surprised chortle. “Did you just make a joke?”

**_-I was attempting to do what is known as a pick-me-up, Admiral, as I must assume this is all a great deal of information for you to handle.-_ **

“Aha…well, it worked, a little.” Shiro readjusted to a more comfortable sitting position, hand back on his stomach. “But I need to make sure my kid can stay right where it is so I _can_ carry it to term. Can you tell me where and how my body is right now?”

**_-You are currently in Holding Room 12H in the medical bay, Admiral, in preparation for emergency surgery.-_ **

For a second, Shiro saw through Atlas’ eyes once more. This time, he could see his own body being limply dressed by two nurses, while a doctor took out a Sharpie and began to mark up his body. It was a strange, surreal sight, though perhaps not as surreal as seeing his clone had been before. At least, this time, he was still alive.

**_-You are being changed into a hospital gown and the doctor scheduled to perform your surgery is marking a set of Langer’s lines on your lower stomach. You are still unconscious, and will remain so for a projected nine hours and thirteen minutes, with a margin of error of- -_ **

“Ok, all right. Got it.” _Need to stop it. Need to give me time to wake up so I can clear this mess up._ “Are they going to perform the surgery right now?”

 **_-Negative.-_ ** Shiro let out the breath he didn’t even know he was holding. **_-Updating communication and teludav records. It appears they are waiting for the Commander to arrive from his post before proceeding.-_ **

_Keith…!_

“Then I’m going to need your help, Altas.”

He could work with this. He could get the time he needed. Coran may have played dirty to knock him out, but Shiro had an advantage over him and everyone else on the ship—ultimate control of the ship itself. And Shiro wasn’t above using underhanded tactics to get things done, either.

“I’m about to do something that might be a little bit illegal…” He paused as he felt Altas’s presence arch quizzically around him. “...ok, it’s probably very illegal. Is anyone still in the room with me?”

**_-There is a nurse currently monitoring your vitals.-_ **

“…Get her out of there. I need to be alone.”

**_-You are requesting that you be left in a room alone, unconscious and unattended?-_ **

“I am.” Shiro’s jaw tightened. “Do what you need to do to get her out of there.”

 **_-…very well.-_ ** Silence, for a moment. **_-I have placed a fake call for Nurse Libdap at the nurses’ station. You are now unattended.-_ **

“Is the door closed?”

**_-It is.-_ **

“Good. Activate my room’s locking systems and initiate a Level Omega override.” A Level Omega override was reserved only for dire situations, one that only he could activate-or call off-as Admiral. Shiro was more than aware that this was straddling the line when it came to his power over the ship. However, he was about to take a step over that line to full-on abuse. “And Atlas? I know Pidge will try to hack into the lock. Do what you can to slow her down. Whatever it takes, short of breaking the computer systems, if you have to.”

**_-I...must advise you that this is very irregular and may reflect poorly on your unrestricted use of my metaphysical link with you, Admiral.-_ **

“I know, believe me. Like I said, probably very illegal as well. But I’m not going to let anyone get near me. Not until Keith gets here.” Shiro took a deep breath. “One more thing, Atlas. Are proxy particle barrier systems functional?”

**_-They are.-_ **

“Good.” He was going to protect his child, no matter what. “Throw one around my room and don’t take it down until I tell you to.”

There was a longer pause, before Atlas spoke again.

**_-As it is what you wish me to do, it shall be done.-_ **

“Good.”

No one was going to get to him or his child. Not until Keith came. Shiro took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Now came the hard part: waiting in the void, and fending off everyone else on the outside, until he woke up.


	2. Chapter 2

_Nothing seemed possible for Keith._

_Everything about him was weird and just ripe for poking fun of growing up. Being an orphan, being small, being thin, being angry. Having no friends, constantly changing families because they didn’t want him, being the class loser. The funny thing was, despite the fact he was considered weird, the fact he had two sets of genitals wasn’t even on the list of things kids made fun of him for. He himself didn’t even know he was considered intersex, or that intersexuality was a thing, until he got to the Garrison._

_Naturally, once they figured it out, the Garrison at least made sure to give him all the prerequisite health talks: practice safe sex, use condoms as often as possible, consider taking the pill, other effective contraceptives just in case those two weren’t options, the whole shebang. Not that it mattered. There was only one person he was remotely interested in, and even then, he knew he could only be friends with the Garrison’s star pilot. Shiro had a boyfriend, after all, and even after he broke up with Adam, he was much too busy for anything outside of friendship. Still, the fact that Shiro would even be his friend—his only friend—at all was a miracle. Keith was certain that being friends would always be good enough for him._

_Until, one day, it just_ wasn’t _good enough for him anymore. Keith couldn’t really pin down just when his feelings for Shiro changed. Was it right after the Kerberos mission launched from Earth? Was it when the Garrison claimed pilot error doomed the Kerberos mission? Was it when Shiro came back to Earth a year later, alive? Was it during the Blade trials, or when he lost Shiro again after the fight with Zarkon? The clone’s arrival, or when he left for the Blades? The fight at the facility? Shiro’s revival? Allura’s death? Or maybe the day after Allura returned?_

_Or was it that he’d always loved Shiro, and every single one of those moments had merely been increasingly stronger reminders, and not the turning point at all?_

_He didn’t know. Whenever that moment had been, it didn’t matter. Keith really may as well have loved Shiro since the very start. And when the chance came for the two of them to finally come together and take their relationship to the next level, Keith seized upon it, vowing to never let go of the man he’d saved from death itself._

_Then, weeks after he and Shiro hooked up, Keith fell ill. Only, it wasn’t_ really _an illness. It was, of all things, puberty. Again._

_For months he was incapacitated, unable to do his work as Leader of the Blades. He could do nothing but sweat, eat, drink, and on occasion wobble around like he was on a boat in the middle of a hurricane, while his body changed from the inside out. Otherwise, it was little else but pain from head to toe. It was like he was on fire all the time, and every night he sweated out his clothing and bedsheets; at the same time, he was always so cold, and shivered something fierce even when he landed on desert planets. He hated it and wished it would go away-aside from the pain and agony he was being put through, the people down at requisitions were getting annoyed with him asking for sheets all the time._

_His mother finally explained, as she wiped his brow of the sweat one night, that it was normal for Galra to go through more than one stage of puberty unless they were pure-blooded. As most Galra were descended from half-breeds, making up a myriad of different subspecies as a result, many went through at least one type of puberty as a result; the true Galra puberty usually tended to come last. Krolia herself had two puberties, and her mother had three, which sounded horrifying to Keith. Still, it could have been worse. Sometimes, depending on the species involved, a half-breed could go through five or more different types of puberties and changes before the final Galra one kicked in, or have all their different puberties happen simultaneously without any rhyme or reason._

_Needless to say, Keith was glad he was apparently only had to worry about going through two versions of it. Something about having a purely human father and a genetically diluted Galra mother somehow made it less likely he would go through more than two, which, all things considered, meant he definitely lucked out in the Galra genetic lottery._

_Still, he worried. He would present as more of a Galra after this, that much was certain. Would he be a giant, with fangs and fur and sharp claws? Would he grow scales like a lizard, or molt his skin with feathers like a bird? Maybe he would wake up one day as purple as Zarkon, his eyes permanently in a yellow glow. Would Shiro find him desirable afterwards? Would Shiro even be able to bear looking at him? Would Keith be able to bear looking at himself in the mirror?_

_And then, at last, Keith woke up one day...with a tail. It was a scaly nuisance that was barely eight inches long, it was purple, it had a few fine tufts of lilac and black fur splotched haphazardly on it like he’d failed to shave it, and it kept wildly smacking against his butt cheeks as he tried to get a look at it. Ironically, while Keith was initially embarrassed having what was little more than an angry baby garden snake attached to his lower spine (it never stopped moving the first week! It smacked Pidge and Kosmo both!), Shiro loved the tail. He loved petting and stroking it and Keith’s lower spine, and eventually Keith himself realized how much he, and his tail, enjoyed the attention. It helped him make peace with the stupid thing at the very least._

_There were other things that were changed due to the second puberty, too. His teeth were somewhat longer and sharper, he grew an extra couple inches, and his hair had_ just _a touch of purple in it if one squinted while he stood in the light. Otherwise, those seemed to be the only major outward changes to his body. He practically looked the same, so long as he kept his renegade tail stuffed into his jeans._

 _Well, that and the fact he was now insanely fertile due to his Galra subspecies. Getting pregnant would hardly be a problem for him. Getting someone else pregnant would hardly be a problem. In fact, Keith could now impregnate anyone who was fertile and capable of carrying a child, unless he decided he was the one who wanted to carry. Thus his mother took pains to remind Keith to never, ever,_ ever _have unprotected sex with anyone unless he intended to get someone pregnant, or intended to get pregnant himself._

_Which was inevitably going to happen anyways; he and Shiro had both thought of having children, discussed having children, even before Keith’s second puberty. Once Keith was in the clear, they decided they would go for it. After enduring so much death, they would finally create life together. Keith would have his and Shiro’s children._

_The fact that Keith hadn’t gotten pregnant within a week of trying was considered a problem. After several months, it was enough of a crisis that Krolia insisted that Shiro and Keith be checked out by someone. That was when the hammer fell, and Shiro learned he would be unable to get Keith pregnant._

_Keith remembered the look on Shiro’s face all too well when they received the news. It was a mask of resigned acceptance that settled on his mouth and furrowed his brow, but the eyes betrayed how he truly felt. There was a deep pain there; it was genuine hope, brutally dashed. Maybe Shiro thought that things really_ would _be different this time, after so much heartache, only for them to not be on this one thing. After everything Shiro had gone through, had suffered, had even died for, fatherhood on his terms was one thing that would still be denied Shiro._

_Keith refused to give up on having kids, and he knew that Shiro ultimately wouldn’t, either. Still, Keith watched as Shiro went to their bedroom and stayed there, not saying a word, not moving from the bed. Instead, for an entire day Shiro stayed inside, quietly staring out the window, while Keith kept his distance to let him mourn._

_Keith managed to get him to eat something late the next day, and eventually, he and Shiro were back in bed together. It would not be long, though, before they would have to be separated once more. They were about to enter a sparsely explored galaxy, and the Blade had gone ahead to begin exploration of its practically unknown inner regions. Keith didn’t want to leave, not when he knew Shiro would need him, but as the leader of the Blades, he would be needed. He had to leave, at least for the present._

_As he held Shiro that night, the light of Messier 81 the only thing to pierce the darkness of their room, his mind swirled as he tried to think of what he could do to help Shiro feel better. To let him know that the news changed nothing about how he saw, how much he loved Shiro, he ultimately decided on one thing he knew would help, even a little bit: some old-fashioned TLC. He turned Shiro’s head towards him, gently wiping away the tear tracks on his face. He could see the pain, the weary resignation on the other’s face. Keith, meanwhile, gave him a hopeful little smile._

_“I was thinking…we’re already naked. And it’s my turn to be on top. Are you up for a round? Maybe two, before I have to go with Ezor?”_

_The moan that came from Shiro as he played with his nipples had been answer enough, and as he mounted the other and prepared to enter him, Keith gently learned down, hand caressing his cheek as he gave Shiro a deep kiss._

_“We’ll figure things out,” he murmured. “We always do. When I come back…”_

_His other hand went to Shiro’s thigh, preparing the vaginal lube._

_“We’ll have time to talk. I promise.”_

_The next morning, Keith woke up and bade an exhausted but satisfied Shiro goodbye, content in the knowledge they would, indeed, have that time. They had all the time in the universe now, after all._

__

_Until, suddenly, Keith found that they didn’t._

* * *

Keith had been flying for nearly eight hours straight since he received the message from Coran.

_“This call is about Number One, I’m afraid.”_

He’d been gone for several months, exploring the inner planets of a galaxy that was known to be sparsely populated. The hope had been to find a place for refugees of the war, and for the Atlas to eventually help ferry potential settlers in, should they have found planets suited for living. Keith had been finishing a survey on such a planet when he was called back to the main Marmora ship. There was a hail for him from the Altas.

_“I regret to inform you that something terrible has happened.”_

Something about an Altean monster trying to kill Shiro from the inside, at least according to Coran. A parasite that needed to be removed before it killed Shiro and endangered the ship and crew. The fact that Shiro himself didn’t contact him meant it had to be bad, that Shiro was in dire trouble as a result of this—or worse.

Even before Coran finished explaining the situation, Keith had already made up his mind. Within ten doboshes he charged Ezor with taking care of Kosmo while he was gone, cleaned himself of all the accumulated muck on his suit, hopped into the first fighter ship he could get his hands on, and sped towards the nearest teludav station.

_I’m coming, Shiro._

Keith wasn’t going to lose Shiro. Not again. They’d gone through far too much to be separated again. He put the throttle onto its highest setting as, finally, the teludav station came up on his radar.

“Teludav 56783-N, this is Mamora 520HFG. Requesting clearance for teludav jump to IGF-Atlas.”

“ **Mamora 520HFG, this is teludav 56783-N! Good second nurm to you, Blade-friend.** ” The Apnician technician appeared on his screens, its llama-esque head nodding. “ **Coordinates are locked and you are cleared for teludav jump. Please enter the activation chamber!** ”

 _Hang on, Shiro! Please!_ Keith’s hands tightened over his controls as he slowed down to enter the chamber. The door to the teludav closed behind him with a squeaky clang. _I’m almost there!_

“ **Particle acceleration achieved.** ” His screen flashed a warning to keep inside the ship while in the wormhole. “ **Jump activating in 3…2…1…** ”

A flash of bright blue light, a pull on his insides like someone was yanking him with a chain, and mere ticks later, stars popped into existence around his ship—as did the massive, dark silhouette of the Atlas.

“IGF-Atlas, this is Mamora 520HFG requesting clearance to land.” There was no response. Not good, Keith realized. “Atlas? It’s me, Keith! I’m here—”

“ **Oh! Keith!** ”

“…Dr. Holt!” Keith breathed a sigh of relief as the commander’s face appeared on his panels. At least someone was responding. Which meant no aliens terrorizing the crew, which meant Shiro was still alive. Hopefully. “I need to see Coran. It’s urgent. Can you let me into the docking bay?”

“ **Well, I can let you into the docking bay, that’s the easy part.** ” Dr. Holt adjusted his glasses. “ **Sorry for the delayed response there, Keith. We’ve been having some, ah, technical difficulties—** ”

“ **OH MY** **_GOD_** **! THESE STUPID CAT MEMES!! NO YOU CAN’T HAZ CHEEZBURGER YOU PIECE OF SH—** ”

“ **—for the past couple of hours.** ” At this Sam turned around. “ **Language, Katie, I didn’t raise you in a barn and you know it!** ”

“Uh.” Keith blinked. “Sir? What’s going on?”

“ **Well, we’re not sure…this all started a few hours ago.** ” Dr. Holt scratched his chin, his expression troubled. “ **You should probably come to the med bay with me. I think that might help some with our problems.** ”

 _So, then Sam knows what’s going on with Shiro?_ Keith frowned. _Or…maybe Coran didn’t tell him about the parasite? Why wouldn’t he, though, if it was so urgent?_

“I’ll be there once I land.”

_Still…whatever is going on has to be related to Shiro somehow. I just know it._

Keith didn’t even wait for his cockpit cover to dissipate before he jumped out of his fighter, unmasking himself as he jogged out of the docking bay and to the nearest elevator. He impatiently pressed the medical wing floor button repeatedly until, finally, the elevator moved. He could feel his tail shake impatiently beneath his pant leg as the elevator started to go briskly upwards; it as too slow for him, as far as he was concerned. 

_Come on, come on…come on!_

After what felt like an eternity, the door opened on the right floor, where Keith found himself surrounded by the sounds of meowing cats of all timbres upon stepping inside.

“What the quiznak!?”

“That’s what _I_ said.” Pidge was waiting for him at the triage station, laptop in arms. “Hey Keith, you came in time for all the fun!”

“What is with all the cats—”

“Computers in the medical bay are acting up!” Pidge crooked her laptop under her armpit as she grabbed Keith with her newly-free hand. “No one can get into Shiro’s room and when I tried to hack the system to open it up, the _dumb cat memes_ invaded!”

“Cat…memes…?”

“Yeah, and now my computer has a trojan on it that forced it to play nothing but cat videos and gifs!!” Pidge’s grip tightened on Keith. “I can’t get rid of it and Atlas refuses to clean my hard drives! The jerk, I thought it worked for us!”

“But what about Shiro?” Keith managed to extricate himself from Pidge before her hand squeezed his nipple to the point of ripping it off his chest. “Is _he_ ok?”

“I don’t _know_! No one does!” Pidge grumbled, pulling her laptop back to her chest. “Dude, like I said, Atlas isn’t letting anyone into his room, not even my dad. We only know what Coran told us.”

“…Huh.” Keith’s frown only deepened. “But that makes no sense if Shiro’s in danger. Why would Atlas just lock everyone out like that…”

He let Pidge guide him to where Shiro’s room was. She hadn’t been joking; Shiro was separated from everyone by not just a locked door, but a particle barrier as well. In front of it was Sam, arms folded in the front, while Coran stood behind him, hands folded behind his back. Both had expressions of stern concern on their faces.

“Atlas, I am going to repeat my order once more.” Sam’s voice had a sharpened quality to it as he stopped and looked up at the ceiling. “Override the lock priority on this door and remove the particle shield _immediately_ so we may get inside. And _please_ remove the virus you installed on my daughter’s system!”

 **_-I’m sorry, Commander Holt.-_ ** After a moment cyan words flashed onto the holding room door’s lock screen **_. -I’m afraid I can’t do that.-_ **

“…Atlas, did…” The commander’s mouth dropped. “Did you just HAL 9000 me!?”

 **_-I’m sorry, Commander Holt.-_ ** Another set of words. **_-I’m afraid I did.-_ **

“…I see the Admiral has been teaching you how to be a smart-aleck in his spare time,” Sam pinched his nose beneath his glasses. “I take it you have no intention of stopping the cat pop-ups on all of our computers, either? You do realize we need those to monitor patients to ensure their well-being…”

 **_-CHEEZBurger is only designed to slow down attempts to override my current orders.-_ ** The text flashed again in response. **_-I have not disabled or otherwise stopped anything that would compromise the patients or the medical staff’s ability to monitor anyone’s condition should they choose to.-_ **

“Except you won’t let us see or monitor Number One!” Coran popped up in front of the barrier, eyes wide, mustache twitching as he shook his finger. “ _His_ life is in mortal danger, and the sedative we administered to help with taking care of the issue is likely to wear off soon.”

“Sir Coran is right!” At this, an Altean nurse, the one Keith had spoken with on comms, also popped up. “Oh, please, sir Atlas, let us back in so we can re-prep him for his surgery and help him!”

**_-Negative. My current orders regarding Holding Room 12H can only be countermanded by an officer that possesses a Level Omega override.-_ **

“Level Omega?” It was at that point that Keith stepped forward. “Well, ok then, who on the ship has a Level Omega override? Seriously, we need to see Shiro right now, Atlas!”

**_-The only individual who currently possesses a Level Omega override is Admiral Takashi Shirogane.-_ **

“…Admiral Takashi Shirogane. Wait,” Keith shook his head after repeating the name. “But Shiro is sedated. Unless—was _he_ the one who initiated this override?”

**_-Affirmative.-_ **

“What!?” Dr. Holt gasped. “How!?”

“Through his psychic link to Atlas. He must be able to communicate to it even while unconscious. But why…” Keith’s shoulders sagged as he pressed his hand against the particle barrier. “Why would Shiro deliberately prevent anyone from coming in when his life’s in danger?”

“…It must be the Tyrnazoran helminth.” Coran’s voice was quiet. “It was known in my day that it could, when threatened, take control of its host to do its bidding by wrapping its barbed tail around the spine.”

“It’s already at _that_ point!?” The Altean nurse gasped. “Oh goodness, this is bad, this is _very_ bad. How will we extract the creature now that it’s controlling him? Will the sedative even work again?”

“We shall have to hope it will. But,” Coran looked over to Keith at this. “I doubt he will allow me or you to approach or administer it again, Saranhi. The parasite, through Shiro, is likely aware of what we did to him, so it cannot be either of us. We will need someone he won’t suspect.”

“Someone he won’t suspect? I…” Keith felt his blood go cold at those words. “Hang on, did…did you… _tell_ Shiro what was going on before you gave him this sedative?”

“…No. We didn’t.”

“Wait, _what_?” Pidge stiffened at this, as did Sam, whose expression became one of anger. “Coran, seriously-!?”

“ _No!?_ ” It was respect for Coran that stopped Keith from just up and throwing punches at him. As it was, he was clenching his fists. “After what he went through, after _everything_ that you _know_ he went through in captivity, you still _knocked him out_ without his permission!?”

Coran’s eyes widened, ever so slightly, at Keith’s words. He didn’t otherwise respond; it was clear he hadn’t thought about that beforehand.

“Commander,” the nurse tried to pipe in, “The helminth is a horrible, hideous monster capable of unprecedented destruction if left unchecked! This is a life or death emergency for him and others! If we said anything, there was a risk the parasite might try to take control even sooner than—”

“No, don’t _even_!” An angry finger was thrown at the nurse, who gasped; Keith didn’t know who she was, and he didn’t care. His tail was shaking in anger and smacking against his leg, and he could feel his face flush with rage as well. “I know for a _fact_ it took a lot of courage for Shiro to come see you guys about whatever this is, and _this_ is how you repay his trust in you!? You want to subject him to a surgical procedure he didn’t even _know_ you wanted to perform, for a condition you didn’t even bother letting him know he had!? I can’t _believe_ you! As for _you_ —” he turned to Coran, “—I expected better from you because you should know _better_ by now after all this time! You _know_ how he is with hospitals and surgeries! You _have_ to be open with him, you can’t just surprise him like that!”

Everyone was silent at Keith’s anger. The nurse, in particular, looked terrified of him-his eyes had probably gone yellow. If that was the case, well, _good._

“ _Well_ , then. I believe you and I will need to have a _talk_ about proper medical procedure and patient consent, Saranhi. You too, I’m afraid, Coran.” Sam folded his hands together as the nurse’s head went down, her face flushed. “In the meantime, we still need to make sure that Shiro is all right. If something _is_ wrong with him, it’s imperative we help him before things get more serious.”

“Indeed.” Coran took a deep breath, composing himself. “The ghanturixton, if you please.”

With that, Coran held his hand out, into which the nurse, head still down, reluctantly placed a dollar store pink plastic spray bottle. He then flipped the bottle over face-up, handing it to Keith. He didn’t look the other in the face as he did so.

“I trust you with this, should our fears about the Admiral’s health be in any way confirmed, Number Four. In the meantime…” Coran closed his eyes. “For what it is worth, I had only desired to help Number One in a way I knew would work for this condition. But I really _am_ sorry for what I did, and I take full responsibility for my actions.”

After a moment of staring Keith yanked it out of Coran’s hands, grasping it by the nozzle before unceremoniously tossing it into the nearest trash bin. The nurse gasped in horror; he didn’t care.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to, and you and I both know it.” Taking several deep breaths to calm himself down, he turned back to the door. “Atlas? You’re still in contact with Shiro, right?”

**_-I am, Commander.-_ **

“Is he awake yet?”

**_-The sedative has begun to wear off. He will be awake shortly.-_ **

“…Can you ask him to let me in?” He looked over his shoulder towards the others, before throwing his hands out, blade in hand before he let that drop as well. “I’m the only one coming in, I’ve got nothing on me that will hurt him. You can lock the door after me or throw up another shield or whatever. I’m not going to try anything—I just want to talk to Shiro when he gets up. Nothing more.”

There was no further text response from the Atlas. Soon after, however, the barrier dissipated, and the door beeped, then clicked. Behind him, Keith could hear someone start to walk forward, but one quick and effective glare at the nurse’s direction stopped her in her tracks as the door slid open for him.

 _Everything will be ok,_ Keith thought as he stepped in, the door shutting behind him with a click. He took a deep breath, then exhaled. _Shiro will be fine. Shiro_ is _fine. He has to be._

Instantly his eyes fell on the figure who lay on the prep table; though his metal arm lay dormant, his flesh fingers were twitching, and the soft light of the vitals monitor above illuminated his face with a soft cyan glow. If Keith hadn’t known any better, it was as if Shiro was just taking a nice little nap in a hospital gown, taking slow deep breaths as he did so.

Soon enough, however, Keith couldn’t help but notice Shiro’s midsection. His stomach was noticeably larger and distended, rising up and down with each inhalation and exhalation. To say that his worry didn’t spike at the sight would have been a lie; his fists clenched, then unclenched twice, to keep them from shaking.

_No. I won’t let him die. Not again. Not this time._

Slowly, and after several deep breaths, Keith stepped forward and pulled the front of the gown up to Shiro’s chest, taking no notice of his lack of underwear—wasn’t remotely near the first time Keith had seen the guy without any, after all—and instead began to inspect the area, pressing his hands firmly against the borders and the top of the rounded bulge. Whatever was under Shiro’s skin was very hard, with practically no give against Keith’s pushing; in fact, he thought he could feel the thing move once or twice in reaction to his palpitations.

 _There is definitely some kind of growth in there…it might even be alive…_ Keith looked over towards the monitors _. Let me see if I can parse out what else they found on it. They must have scanned this hel-parasite-thing beforehand if they know about it, right?_

Several button presses later, and Keith found himself staring at a picture of what it was that had caused so much trouble for Shiro and everyone else to begin with. He had to blink once, then twice, but he was pretty sure he knew what he was seeing. And he had to try very hard to stop himself from either cooing, laughing, or doing both at the same time as he covered his mouth with his hand.

Apparently, the Tyrnazoran helminth was a tiny, twitchy cat monster living in Shiro’s stomach. It looked nothing like what Coran or the nurse claimed it to be. In fact, it looked downright _adorable_.

 _Aww, what a cute little parasitic death-beast. It’s too bad._ After a moment, Keith swiped the picture away without looking further into the charts or other details, fists clenched once again. To think something like that was killing Shiro from the inside. _It even looks like a baby Galra if you tilt your head to the side. Heh. Figures._

“Mmmnn…”

Keith’s head quickly turned around, and his eyes lit up as he saw Shiro sluggishly start to move his head. Slowly, the other’s eyes fluttered open, and after a moment, they focused on Keith.

“Oh...mm. Hey there.”

“Shiro!” Instantly Keith was at his side. “Oh my god, are you ok? How are you feeling?”

“Nngh…ah…cold, tired and annoyed.” Shiro’s words were slightly slurred as Keith slowly sat him up. With clumsy hands. Shiro pulled his hospital gown back down over himself and let out a shudder. “Like I got drugged. I’m thinking of punching an Altean the next time I see him because of that. In fact, I think I will. You think anyone would mind?”

“We can talk about Coran later. First?” Keith pointed to Shiro’s protruding belly. “We need to talk about _that_. How the quiznak did you end up with Death Kitty 9000 in there?”

“…What?”

“That’s my impromptu nickname for the cute thing that’s apparently killing you from the inside.” The wince that Shiro gave didn’t go unnoticed. “Look, trust me, I’m mad at Coran too; he had no right to do what he did to you but…I’m worried about you too, you know.”

“Wait, Keith, I didn’t—I’m not—”

Shiro opened his mouth to speak, but Keith put his hand up to stop him. He wasn’t finished.

“I get it, all right? You would want to handle this on your own, and have me be back with the Blade doing my job while you figure this out on your own. But you don’t have to do this alone-we’re a team now. I’m here for you, no matter what, if you’ll let me be there for you, don’t you know that? After all this time?” Keith closed his eyes. “And if there’s something I have to do to make sure whatever this is doesn’t hurt you anymore than it already has, I will.”

Aside from drugging him without permission, of course. But Keith didn’t need to say that out loud. Whether or not Shiro was going to die, he was fine with Shiro punching Coran at some point in the near future.

“Just…” Keith nodded to himself before he continued. “I don’t want you to die and that’s the bottom line. But…I know I can’t force you to do something unless you’re alright with going through with it. Just…please, tell me what you want to do with this thing inside you, what you want _me_ to do about it, and I will respect your decision, no matter what happens.”

Shiro stared at him, expression unreadable, before his eyes softened. Slowly, his flesh hand came up to caress Keith’s cheek, and Keith brought a hand up to hold his.

“Keith…” Was Shiro tearing up? He was, and he was smiling, but why? “I didn’t know. But now that I do know what’s wrong, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Shiro?”

“I swear to you, Keith. I’m _not_ dying. Not from this, not at all!”

“But…” Keith’s brows wrinkled in confusion. “The picture of your scan…I _saw_ what was inside you. It’s probably going to keep growing and feeding off you…and…then…?”

He trailed off as Shiro started to laugh, pressing his forehead to Keith’s.

“Oh my g— _Keith_ , you silly, _silly_ …!” There was apparently something Shiro found hilarious about what Keith said, and Keith did not understand why. “No, no, look at it again. Look _closer_. I _promise_. I’m going to be fine. _We’re_ going to be fine.”

With that, Shiro let go of Keith, who gave the other a wary look before turning back to the monitor to call up the image once more. The death kitty popped back up, along with all the other miscellany information that came up with the scan. This time, he looked at the details, and his eye caught the word progesterone on the list. Instantly, the words _pregnancy_ and _baby_ popped into his mind; he knew full well what progesterone was, and how high levels of it meant someone was—

_Pregnant._

Keith’s eyes widened, and his heart skipped several beats as he stepped—no, _staggered_ —backwards, straight into Shiro’s chest. His arms immediately wrapped around Keith, holding him tight and pressing him against pecs that were much rounder than Keith recalled them being, as Shiro started chortling into his neck, wetting the area with his tears.

“Shiro…that…!” A shaky hand pointed to the picture of the death creature—no, the baby, _the baby_ —as Keith spoke. “Is that…is that mine!? I-is that _ours_!?”

Keith felt Shiro nod his head into his shoulder.

“…Oh my god.” Keith began to hyperventilate with panic. With excitement. With shock. With…he didn’t know anymore. His words came out choked. “Oh my god, Shiro, _Shiro_! I thought…I…you…but they said…”

“I know!”

 _A baby. Shiro’s having a baby. He’s having_ our _baby. This is really_ happening _._

Slowly, Keith turned around to face Shiro fully, still wrapped in his arms. There were tears in Shiro’s eyes, but this time, unlike the last time, unlike before Keith left, these were shed from joy.

“…I couldn’t get you pregnant, and I never will be able to.” White hair splayed into Keith’s face as Shiro came nose to nose with him, whispering in a soft voice. “But today I found out _you_ could get _me_ pregnant. _I_ _can get pregnant_ , I could all along and didn’t even realize it…I didn’t even think to ask about it, not once since I was a kid!”

Shiro let out an almost hysterical laugh at this. Keith, meanwhile, bit his lip, letting out an involuntary sob even so as everything began to sink in.

“We can have kids like we’d wanted…and we’re _going_ to have our first one, Keith!” Shiro’s hands went back up to Keith’s cheeks, wiping the tears away. “You, and me, and…and it’s going to be the most _amazing_ kid, because it’s _ours_!”

“…S-so..” Keith managed to blubber out something coherent between heaving breaths, at least. “We’re…adopting isn't in the cards anymore, huh? O-or a sperm donor...heheheh...!”

“…The more the merrier, right?” Shiro breathlessly leaned in to kiss Keith. “Whatever we want to do, Keith, we can do it…nothing’s impossible, not anymore…”

Keith turned back one more time to look at the image of their child. _Their child_. It seemed so surreal, but the evidence was right there.

Death Kitty 9000 wasn’t a sign of Shiro’s impending death. It was a new life, one that they made, and Shiro was going to live as well.

That was when another realization hit Keith as he looked over the unborn creature.

“…Oh… _quiznak_ , i-it has my _tail_ …!”

That fully broke the dam inside Keith. He let Shiro kiss his forehead as he wept, his own tears of joy falling down his face.

* * *

It was another half-hour before, finally, the cats disappeared from the computer network, the barrier around Shiro’s room came down, and the door unlocked for good.

**_-Omega Level override deactivated. Removal of CHEEZBurger on all intra-ship networks confirmed.-_ **

“Oh, thank god,” Everyone could hear Pidge mumble as she flipped open her laptop to check. “Yup, I now officially hate cats forever and ever. Now let’s check o—”

Before anyone else could react or could get inside to check on those within, however, Shiro and Keith were coming out, the former on unsteady feet as he leaned against the frame of the door. They both looked at each other one more time through red, puffy eyes, then nodded.

“Hi.” Keith spoke first. “So, first things first. Shiro is not dying. He isn’t going to die and we’re _not_ having a surgery to remove _anything_ currently inside Shiro at _any_ point.”

“Are you sure—”

Keith silenced the nurse by fixing a simple but effective glare on her. It was a look that challenged anyone to dare try and tell him otherwise about what was going to happen, and he knew it.

“Yeah, so all this panic and suffering was for _nothing_ because Death Kitty 9000—”

Pidge let out what sounded like an involuntary _snrk_ sound at this.

“—Look, it’s the current work in progress name, we haven’t figured out what we’re going to name it yet, but—”

“I’m pregnant,” Shiro cut in. “It’s Keith’s. I’m due in about four and a half Earth months.”

There was deathly silence in the room as Keith watched everyone digest the news. Coran paled considerably, while Sam’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

“…I call dibs on godmother!”

“Wh— _Katie._ ”

“Dad!” Pidge clapped her father on the shoulder. “Come on, you _know_ Allura will try and make a claim on this kid. I’m just undercutting her before she even has a chance! So, congrats Keith and Shiro, you now have your godmother for Death Kitty 9000.”

“ _Katie!_ ” Sam turned and indignantly pointed. “That’s _not_ how godparents work, and you know it!”

“It does now!” At this, Pidge gave Keith and Shiro a thumbs up. “But seriously, congrats, you two!”

“We haven’t even _remotely_ started to discuss that stuff,” Keith let out a snort. “But…yeah. We’re having a baby.”

At this, Coran finally stepped forward towards Shiro, his face still pale and eyes closed, and cleared his throat. As he did so, Shiro’s expression darkened, and he straightened himself up to face the Altean.

“Number One, I-”

Whatever apology Coran had to say to Shiro was interrupted by the fist that collided into his face with a loud, and to Keith admittedly satisfying, _crack_.

“ _Oh!_ ”

Saranhi let out a cry as Coran flew backwards into a nearby wall and crumpled to the floor, stole one last terrified look towards Shiro and Keith, and promptly ran the other way with a squeak, arms over her head. Coran, meanwhile, stared dazedly at nothing for a dobosh before coming to.

“…Well,” He coughed, cracking his nose back into place. “I certainly can’t say I didn’t deserve that.”

“Yeah, Coran,” Pidge drawled. “I don’t think you’re getting invited to the baby shower, either.”

“Hmm.” Coran took out a handkerchief and began to blow the blood out of his nose as he stood up. “I should…probably take my leave then, unless there is anything else Number One or Number Four would like to do with me?”

“One tick, Coran.”

Keith took a breath at this. Admittedly, he also wanted to punch the Altean, but Shiro already did it. No need for overkill.

“Look.” His tone was polite but firm. “We love you, and we’ll eventually forgive you, but you are not a doctor and you should not ever act like one. Shiro and I have agreed that if you _ever_ pull something like this again on someone without talking to them about it, or reading the monitors, or getting an _actual doctor on the ship’s medical staff_ to double-check something before you do anything, whatever happens to you next time will be slow, painful, and not at all pleasant. Got it?”

“Duly noted.” Coran bowed his head. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will…just leave.”

And with that, Coran left, while the two Holts remained.

“Well,” Sam walked over and clapped a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “I must say congratulations to you two as well. I…admit, not to be crass, but I was unaware you could…well.”

“It’s ok, Sam.” The darkness on Shiro’s face eased, as Keith watched him give the older man a tired smile. “I didn’t realize I could, either. Or, well, like this, at least.”

“Say no more, it’s none of my business except to say good for you.” Sam shook Shiro’s shoulder a bit more. “Of course, I hope you don’t mind me suggesting you have a _proper_ appointment to check on everything in the near future? Just to make sure everything is up to snuff?”

“Planned on it. As long as it’s not today,” Shiro murmured. “Or…tonight. What time is it?”

“It’s about 0209 Night Cycle,” Sam nodded. “I was about to suggest taking the next cycles off so you can get some real rest. I can take the bridge, or Mitch can. We can discuss the details of how we’ll ride out the longer-term future later.”

“…Thanks, Dr. Holt.” 

Shiro smiled as Keith brought a hand around his waist. Keith looked up at the other, his tail thumping gently beneath his pant leg as he took the sight in. Shiro really did look beautiful, albeit a bit dazed.

“Hey, Shiro, you mind if I make a quick comms call to the Blade and my mom at some point? I’m going to let them know I’ll be staying here for a couple of days. Might go to bed first, though.”

“Yeah.” Shiro let out a yawn at this. “Heh, I am actually a bit tired, believe it or not.”

“I bet you are, Admiral.” With that, Sam motioned his head towards Pidge. “Come on, you, let’s get ourselves back to work. Those rocket condensers on our orbiters won’t fix themselves.”

“Oh, you bet I’m getting back to work! I’ve got _ideas_.” There was a dangerous gleam in Pidge’s eyes as she followed her father. “So, hear me out here, dad, but I’m thinking robot nanny with Roomba feet—”

“Katie, no.”

“Anti-theft weapons system to protect the baby is absolutely a must—”

“ _Katherine!_ ”

“What?” The two continued talking as they disappeared past the nurses’ desk. “I was thinking _tasers_ , not freaking homing missiles! I mean, if we _do_ add homing missiles to the design it’ll probably be just some sparklers outfitted with homing tech or something like that…”

“…Yeah.” Keith leaned into Shiro, letting out a yawn he didn’t even know he had in him. “I think sleep sounds like a good idea.”

“I thought you were going to call your mom and the Blade?”

“…Tomorrow.” With that, the two began to move. Keith didn’t leave Shiro’s side. “Or later today, whatever. I’ll do it eventually. Let’s…just get some sleep first.”

They went to the elevator, Keith’s arm still wrapped around Shiro’s hip. As they went up to their quarters, they walked slowly together. On occasion someone would walk by and stare at Shiro, to which Keith would glare right back at them until they averted their eyes and quickly walked off.

They didn’t say anything as they got inside, then into their bedroom. They were quiet as they each undressed, Keith taking in Shiro’s body once more as he tossed the hospital gown onto the floor. Then, just as silently, they crawled into bed, Keith cuddling Shiro from the back giving him a kiss behind the ear, then on his neck. He buried his head into Shiro’s hair, taking in the new scent and thickness of it as his hand quietly went down to Shiro’s belly, almost marveling at its gentle roundness, and the fact it was him who caused it.

Shiro’s flesh hand soon met his, clasping over it.

“We did it,” he heard Shiro murmur as he finally drifted off to sleep with a yawn. “We really did it. Go…us…”

“Mm.” Keith closed his eyes with a smile. “We did.”

He, too, soon fell asleep, with dreams of his unborn child dancing in his head throughout the remainder of the night.

* * *

Keith woke up late the next morning, and Shiro was still sleeping, and still pregnant. The previous day had not been a dream, he realized, much to his joy. He was going to have a _kid_. He was going to be a _father_.

The first order of business, then, was to throw something on and call his mother right from the room.

“ **...Keith?** ” His mother’s face popped up, brow knitted with concern. “ **Acxa called me to say you went back to the Atlas and even left Kosm—wait, are you** **_naked_** **?** ”

“Um, no, I have pants on.” Keith’s face flushed at the question. “Hi, Mom.”

“ **Well, in any case, she said you had left your mission because you were told that Shiro was ill. Is he all right? He must be if you’re just waking up and not looking panicked.** ”

“Well, actually…” Keith took a deep breath. “He’s pregnant.”

There was silence on the other end, with Krolia’s expression warping from concern, to consternation, to thoughtfulness.

“ **You’re…you’re not joking, are you? Just now, I thought you were…** ” Krolia’s eyes finally lit up. “ **You’re being serious, right? I’m going to be a grandmother?** ”

“Yeah…” Keith sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, looking over towards where Shiro slept. “It was...definitely unexpected, but-”

The squeal of joy that emitted from Krolia caused Shiro’s head to bolt up from where he lay, looking around with half-opened, confused eyes. Once he saw where he was, he thankfully relaxed, though he still looked confused as he looked over at Keith.

“Hngh? Mmmmwhat’s that…”

“ **Oh! Is that Shiro?** ” Keith had frankly never seen his mom so giddy as he turned the comm around to have her look at Shiro. “ **Shiro! You better be taking good care of my grandchild in there, or we will be having words. Understand?** ”

“…oh. Hi, Keith’s mom.” Shiro owlishly blinked. “Thank you?”

“ **Now.** ” Krolia folded her hands together. “ **Do you two know the gender, or—** ”

“We don’t.” Keith crossed his arms. “And I know what you’re going to say, but we’re _not_ calling them Yorak. Sorry.”

“ **…Oh. Hm.** ” Krolia gave him the stink eye at the declaration. “ **But it’s a good, strong name for a boy. It was almost** **_your_ ** **name, you know.** ”

“Almost doesn’t count.” Keith grinned at his mother’s deepening pout. “Mom. I’m going to be a dad. Can you believe it?”

“ **…No.** ” Slowly, Krolia’s pout disappeared, and she smiled as well. “ **You father would be so proud, and I am certainly proud of you, Keith. Even if you don’t respect a poor old woman’s wishes for her grandchild.** ”

“You’re barely middle-aged!”

“ **For a Galra, yes. For a human lifespan, though? I’m apparently old as dirt!** ” Krolia brought a hand to her chest in mock indignation. “ **So you should be nicer to a grandmother-to-be, especially when it’s your own mother!** ”

“Well…” Keith taped his finger to his chin. “Maybe if you gave us a nice gift at the baby shower…”

“Oh, I know!” Shiro was now sitting up and more awake, pulling up the sheets to better cover his unclothed nether regions. “You could knit our baby a space suit onesie!”

“Oooh, that’s a good idea.” Keith leaned into Shiro at this. “But it would need a flap for Death Kitty 9000’s tail.”

“ **…What kind of a name is—wait, your child has a tail, too?!** ” That put a sparkle in Krolia’s eyes. “ **Oh my word,** **_my_ ** **parents had tails! Oh—you know, you could name them Kuyruk! That was my father’s name, but it’s also gender-neutral and perfect for a tail-bearer!** ”

“We’ll consider it,” Shiro smiled, and god, Keith thought he looked beautiful. “In the meantime, I think Keith and I need to get something to eat.”

“ **Oh, yes, of course! Absolutely!** ” Krolia looked down at something that didn’t appear on the screen. “ **I have to get to an evening meeting with the justicars, so I will let you two go. Oh, and I** **_will_ ** **make sure Kolivan knows.** ”

Something about Krolia’s smile as it widened at that last promise made Keith feel a prickle under his skin for some reason. Before he could ask what Krolia meant, she was waving goodbye and shutting off the connection. With a sigh, Keith snapped the communicator onto the elastic band of his pants.

“…I have a bad feeling about what my mom might be up to.” He turned to Shiro as the other got out of bed, reaching for a t-shirt. “So, mac and cheese from the mess for lunch? It is that time of day.”

“…Actually,” Shiro paused. “I could really go for a London broil. Or…maple syrup. Or both. Both is good.”

Keith’s mouth dropped at this admission, as did the t-shirt from his hands.

“You…you _don’t_ want macaroni and cheese?!”

“Not really, no.” Shiro smiled. “You know, not wanting macaroni and cheese was actually the primary reason I was motivated to go see a doctor yesterday. I didn’t even think twice about all my other pregnancy symptoms, but when I realized I was eating a sandwich with _sriracha_ on it...”

“Huh.” Keith paused, taking the statement in. “You not wanting your favorite food while eating something you hate at the same time _does_ sound like an emergency for you, to be honest.”

“Well, that and I threw up on Lieutenant Wright after eating.” Keith took up his t-shirt again and pulled it over his head as Shiro continued. Shiro, meanwhile, was putting on a pair of uniform pants; Keith watched as he tried to get the pants over the bottom of his stomach and failed, ultimately settling to toss them aside and grab a pair of workout sweatpants instead. “After that I…really couldn’t avoid going even if I had wanted to.”

“It figures.” Keith’s comm began to beep again. “Oh, hey. A message from—”

“ ** _KEITH!_ **”

Both Keith and Shiro jumped as a half-awake and very angry-looking Allura popped up on screen. Behind her was a very-terrified-looking Lance, huddling under a blanket.

“A…llura?” Keith swallowed at the sight. “Uh. Hi. Everything all right?”

“ **No.** **_Quite_** **. The opposite.** ” If looks could kill, Allura would have incinerated the Atlas. “ **Firstly, congratulations on the child which I assume you must be having, if what I’ve heard is correct. Secondly, what’s this I hear about you letting** **_Pidge_ ** **be the so-called godmother without even** **_consulting_ ** **me!** ”

“ ** _Ack_** **!** ” From behind Allura, Lance let out a squeak of protest. “ **I’m sorry guys, we got a message from Pidge and I had to explain what a godmother was and what they did and how important they could be to the family, and it turns out it’s similar to a role they have on Altea that is considered—** ** _GAH_** **, ALLURA—** ”

“ **By picking only Pidge, are you two implying,** ” The expression on Allura’s face darkened, and the lights in the room she and Lance were in began to flicker. “ **That I wouldn’t be** **_as_ ** **good of a godmother figure because I am not human, or** **_perhaps_ ** **you thought I was too busy to be one!? Let me** **_assure_ ** **you that despite my duties here on Altea, I can handle the responsibility** **_perfectly_ ** **FINE—** ”

Keith opened his mouth to speak, only to have Shiro press the off button on the comm and toss it across the room with a flourish.

“...Whoops.” Keith looked up to see Shiro giving him a smirk, even as the comm starts to beep again. “Looks like we’re having technical difficulties. They’ll just have to call back later.”

“Oh my god,” Keith gaped. “You _really_ want that steak, don’t you?”

“I sure do.” Shiro brought both hands behind his head and stretched. “Let’s go see if we can find some steak and maple syrup in requisitions. Then we can see about bringing Kosmo on board—if you’re staying with me, at least.”

“I plan on it. Axca can handle things once I talk to her. And while we’re at it we can get you some clothes.” Keith’s hand went to cup the side of Shiro’s midsection. “Don’t think I didn’t see you struggling with Death Kitty 9000 to put your pants on.”

“…We’re really going to keep calling it that, huh?” Shiro’s flesh hand went to where Keith’s was. “We need to come up with a better name.”

“I know, but I was thinking it would still make a great middle name at the very least. And it’s what my mom would call ‘gender-neutral’ as a bonus.” Keith smiled. “Aside from hungry…how _do_ you feel about all this?”

“...Surreal, to be honest.” Shiro closed his eyes. “I thought I’d wake up, and yesterday would all be a vivid dream, but…no. I’m having our kid. Just… _wow_.”

“…Yeah.” Keith leaned in, giving Shiro a peck on the cheek. “You are. I’ll get you a shirt.”

In the end, Shiro ended up wearing a hoodie and t-shirt along with his sweatpants. As they finally left their rooms to go to requisitions, they walked side by side, Keith occasionally bumping his hip into Shiro’s.

“So,” Keith started to speak. “Like Sam said, we should schedule something with—”

“Hey! Shiro! Keith!”

The two turned to see Matt jogging towards them, oil smeared on his forehead and grin plastered on his face.

“Just came up here to tell you that the condensers are finally fixed. All good to go for our next leg of the mission!” Matt stopped in front of them, hopping on his feet as he looked first to Shiro, then to Keith. “Also…going back to the gym, huh? About time you did. Hey, Keith.”

“…what’s that supposed to mean?” Keith’s eyes narrowed. He knew Matt meant it in jest, but at the same time, it made him want to punch Matt for daring to insult Shiro’s body, especially in his condition. “Are you saying Shiro’s _fat_?”

“No! Just…I noticed he was getting a little thick in the middle recently…not that he looks _huge_ , or anything like that, I-” Matt gulped, humorous grin vanishing as he brought his hands up. “I, uh, didn’t want to say anything in public about it, but I _did_ notice he hasn’t been working out and gained some weight, but...not a lot! No offense, Shiro, seriously. I _was_ just joking.”

“…Matt,” Shiro tilted his head with practiced innocence towards Matt. “Did you talk to either your father or Katie since last night?”

“No, why?”

“No reason. I’m not fat, I’m just pregnant is all.” Shiro grinned as he crooked his metal arm around Keith. “Come on, Keith, let’s get going now.”

With that, he tugged Keith along with him towards the elevator, a pleased smile on his face as he kept his back turned to Matt. Keith, for his part, blinked and looked up at Shiro in confusion. At least until he saw the evil, devious gleam in the other’s eye as he let go of Keith, in order to allow his metal arm press a button on the elevator panel several feet ahead of them.

_Ooooh, I get it._

“Oh, ha _ha_ , Admiral Shirogane, verrrrry funny joke. You’re pregnant, huh? Sure you are.” Behind them both, Matt started shouting after them. “I mean…you _are_ joking, right? Shiro, Keith? We _are_ in space, and weirder things have happened…Shiro...”

Shiro let out a small chuckle as the elevator doors opened, and Keith motioned him to enter first.

“…Seriously? Shiro, no, come _on_ ,” Matt’s shouting became frantic. “Don’t do this, I need to know! Why would I have talked to my sister and dad last night!? What is going on!? _Shiro_!!”

“Are…you messing with Matt?” Keith whispered as he stepped in second. “For making fun of you? You are, aren’t you?”

“Sure am. I always know how to get my own back when it comes to Matt,” Shiro murmured. Then, in a louder voice towards Matt, accompanied with a wave as the doors began to slide closed. “Thanks for the update on the situation in mechanical! Catch you later!” 

“SHIRO, _COME ON_! I SWEAR TO _GOD_ —!!”

Keith gave Matt his own smirk as he turned to face the other, just as the doors closed. The look on Matt’s face was one of panic and confusion. In other words, priceless. Just like Death Kitty 9000, he mused.

Just like Shiro. His hands found and began to rub Shiro’s belly as he wrapped his arms around the other from behind, giving him a peck on the cheek. Shiro responded by nuzzling up against Keith, his flesh hand once more pressing against Keith’s.

It was truly happening. This was truly happening. Keith was going to be a father, and so was Shiro, and it was, Keith decided, the most amazing feeling in the world.

“I love you,” Keith let out a breathy sigh. “You, and Death Kitty 9000.”

“Right back at you.”

“…So…” Shiro paused. “Now that we’ve decided on the middle name…while we’re in here, let’s talk first names to go with Death Kitty 9000 Shirogane.”

“Death Kitty 9000 Shirogane. I like it.” Keith paused. “So we’re not naming our baby Kruyuk or Yorak, right?”

“Nope. Not feeling it.”

“…Good.”

And inside Shiro, Death Kitty 9000 began to move again. Shiro wouldn’t feel her as Keith had, not yet.

But soon enough.

* * *

_Kolivan would appear before the child was born to offer a traditional Daibazaalian gift: a baby cockpit saddle for the kid to learn how to fly on his parent’s back. Complete with an adult-sized onesie with a bear-eared hood to simulate an actual spaceship. It was polka dot pink and green. Keith was only slightly mortified, while Shiro thought it was the best gift ever._

_Krolia also brought a space suit onesie—that was shaped like a spacesuit. It had a flap for the tail, as promised._

_To prevent fighting between Allura and Pidge throughout the rest of their lives, Shiro and Keith decided to pick Ina as their child’s godmother. It was a satisfactory compromise for everyone._

_Shiro and Keith eventually forgave Coran. At some point. It involved him getting very nice presents for the child. He did get to go to the baby shower, but was watched like a hawk._

_The child turned out to be a girl. When she grew up, she became a superhero that fought off racist extremists on all planets. She used Death Kitty 9000 as her moniker. Her parents couldn’t have been prouder._

**E N D**


End file.
